Remembering an oft-forgotten freedom

The “right of the people … to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” the last freedom of the First Amendment, is the most forgotten freedom. Each year when the First Amendment Center commissions its State of the First Amendment survey, petition is the freedom few can name (only 6% in 2010). Why is the right of petition the forgotten freedom when it has deep historical roots?

The right to petition the government can be traced to several English documents, including the Magna Carta (1215). As the British colonists settled in America they began to develop their own legal codes, declarations and charters. Within these was the right to petition. By the time James Madison drafted the federal Bill of Rights, most states included the right of petition in their state bill of rights. Constitutional scholars agree, though, that the right of petition the colonists sought to be included in the Bill of Rights is very different in its use and meaning from the interpretation of the right today. It is likely that including the right of petition in the national Bill of Rights may have led to its own demise in its originally intended form.

If a colonist had grievance against a neighbor he would petition the local assembly to deal with the issue. According to Stephen Higginson’s 1986 article, “A Short History of the Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances,” these government entities were “vested with a variety of police, legislative and judicial powers.” They responded to disputes over land, employment wages and packaging of tobacco products, and they disciplined misconduct by servants, writes Higginson. As we see today, there was no difference between the constituents’ agenda and that of the government representatives. The assemblies responded directly to the petitions of the people. This system often led to a backlog of petitions but it also helped the government entities learn what was happening in their communities. Often the information in the petitions helped identify those in need — and money was made available to the sick, the orphans and others facing hardships.

After passage of the national Bill of Rights in 1791, Congress spent decades responding to individual petitions. According to Higginson, lawmakers dealt with such issues as the National Bank, election results, the Alien and Sedition Acts, the expulsion of the Cherokees from Georgia and the slave trade. In the 19th century this petitioning system began to break down. Congress began the day reading the petitions from each state. If a state had too many petitions, the business of Congress could be halted for the day. The abolitionists seized upon the right to petition as a way to make Congress deal with the issue of slavery, flooding Congress with abolitionist petitions. Southern lawmakers responded, Higginson writes, by urging their colleagues to change how Congress handled petitions. They argued that although the right of petition was a way for individuals to state their grievances, Congress was in no way required, as lawmakers were in Colonial times, to act upon each petition. This argument proved successful, and Congress passed a set of gag orders, effectively ending the right of petition in its original form.

The right of petition eventually became viewed more as the right of free expression and now generally is coupled with other First Amendment freedoms, such as assembly and speech. But petition is not dead and should not be forgotten. The right is the genesis of much of the legislation that moved this country forward through turbulent times. Legislators responded to the letter-writing campaigns during the women’s suffrage movement and we now have the 19th Amendment. Congress and the president took note in 1963 when more than 250,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C., to urge passage of civil rights legislation. We now have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting employment discrimination.

Today we continue to see grass-roots groups petitioning Congress to change laws. A group of mothers grieving for their children killed by drunk drivers got together to form MADD 30 years ago, and as a result of their efforts, DUI laws have been made more stringent.

Examples of petition in action in 2010:

Alaska voters asked to see a list of write-in candidates.

In Tennessee a judge ruled that requirements for third-party candidates to get on the voting ballot were too burdensome.

The Michigan House of Representatives approved a bill that protects people from retaliatory lawsuits when they speak out on free-speech issues.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, involving a government employee who claims he was retaliated against for exercising his right to petition the government.

We may not be able to remember it when answering a survey question, but this mighty right of petition is part of our daily lives.

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.